Town of Melbourne Beach TOWN COMMISSION WORKSHOP JANUARY 3, 2024 MEETING COMMUNITY CENTER - 509 OCEAN AVENUE MINUTES Commission Members: Mayor Alison Dennington Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie Commissioner Corey Runte Commissioner Marivi Walker Commissioner Adam Meyer Staff Members: Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro Town Clerk Amber Brown 1. Call to Order Mayor Alison Dennington called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Town Clerk Amber Brown conducted roll call Commission Members Present Mayor Alison Dennington Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie left at 9:15 pm Commissioner Corey Runte left at 9:50 pm Commissioner Marivi Walker Commissioner Adam Meyer Staff Members Present Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro Building Official Robert Bitgood Town Clerk Amber Brown 3. Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence Mayor Alison Dennington led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1IPage 4. Public Comments After being acknowledged by the Mayor, members of the public should state their name and address for the record. The Commission encourages citizens to prepare their comments in advance. Each individual will have three (3) minutes to address the Commission on any topic(s) related to Town business, not on the Agenda. Jim. Simmons 409 Avenue B Jim Simmons spoke about how the now Mayor has submitted a lot of public records requests to the Town most of which are quite extensive. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about not agreeing with the characterization. Kate Wilborn 502. Second Ave Kate Wilborn asked Commissioner. Adam Meyer to. sponsor an agenda item regarding stormwater on Second and Pine and if the Town accepts funds for the boat ramp it can prevent Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about how he would reach out to Kate to get more the Town from making it residents only. information about it. 5. New Business A. Discussion on board member applications Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about receiving three applications for the Board of Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about receiving one application for the Planning and Adjustment which has two alternate positions open. Zoning Board which has one alternate position open. Kate Wilborn - 502. Second Ave Kate Wilborn spoke about being one of the candidates who applied for the Board of Adjustment. She spoke about wanting to preserve the Town the way it is, and has read through a lot of the code, and being very qualified to be a resident on the Board. Mike Krajic- 2103 Neptune Dr Mike Krajic said a prayer and spoke about being one of the candidates who applied. for the Board of Adjustment. He spoke about having a psychology degree, worked at the post office for many years, and being a landlord. He spoke about not knowing the code but would, familiarize himself with it. Thinks he would be a good candidate for the position, but Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about Timothy Flint being the last candidate and he is not here tonight, but was ati the last Town Commission Meeting and did speak then. if he would be better in a different position. he would think about it. 2IPage Jason. Judge - 206 Flamingo Ln Jason. Judge spoke about being the candidate who applied for the Planning and Zoning Board. He spoke about wanting to become more involved in the Town. He has not read the code other than the parts that apply to him but would familiarize himself or ask people who are more educated about it. He applied for the Planning and. Zoning Board because it is an advisory board and he does not think he would be qualified for the Board of Adjustment yet. He spoke about previously: serving on the Towns Parks Board. He would only vote for things that would be in the best interest of the Town, not him personally. Jim. Simmons - 409 Avenue B Jim Simmons spoke about there being misinformation about what Boards are held to ex parte communications. Ex parte communications is for quasi-judicial proceedings. The Planning and Zoning Board does not conduct any quasi-judicial proceedings they are only an advisory board that is subject to the. Sunshine law but is not subject to ex parte communications. The Commission is subject to ex parte communications when they are reviewing a rezoning request or any other quasi-judicial request. He spoke about having Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about that being. Jim Simmons's opinion and hei is not a experience and training on the topic. lawyer. Tina Coppock -5 505 Avenue B Tina Coppock asked if there is any requirement to be a lawyer to be on any of the boards. If not the lawyer comment was uncalled for. Frank Thomas - 606 Atlantic. St Frank Thomas spoke about being here for several years. There was a wonderful New Year's history walk with approximately 150 people. The moneyfrom the sale of his books goes to the Town for the History Center. B. Consideration to repeal Ordinance 2023-02 - Second Kitchens Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about putting this item on the agenda, and that there isa a moratorium on permitting second kitchens. She spoke about repealing the granting of permits then they can redo it if needed. On one hand some families may need a second kitchen, but on the other hand, we do not want to allow al house to be rented to multiple families. An option is doing it by development order because that follows the land. Suggested repealing the ordinance and then redoing it by development order. No one would be able to come back later to argue it. In thei future legislature might change to allow multiple families if there are two kitchens. Commissioner Adam Meyer asked how a development order works. 3IPage Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about how the only change to the code was to allow the voltage for an oven. To get a permit for a second kitchen you have to have a homestead.A development order would be part of the building permitting process. To make any Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about setting up a joint meeting with Planning and Zoning, the Town Attorney, and the Commission. A development order would provide even more protection. Residents have at fear that single-family homes will turn into multi- family. It's possible that legislature in thet future may take away more of! home rule. Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about the ordinance does not need to be repealed, but rather amended, and the Town Attorney did feel a development order is a viable option. She read an article about eight states ini the north that have done away with single-family zoning and height requirements statewide, sO there is that potential as home Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about when we have legal counsel she would like to Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about the agenda item title being a little aggressive. Mayor Alison Dennington agreed with Commissioner Corey Runte on the title. changes we need an attorney. rule gets dwindled. know what else might be coming that would affect home rule. Maybe change the title to consideration to review or amend. Dan Harper- - 418 Avenue B Dan Harper spoke about how during the first reading it required an attached common wall. After the first reading, that requirement was removed and he believes that would be considered a substantial change and would require an additional, first reading sO it was not noticed properly. Another thing is there are almost zero constraints such as location on the Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about not needing the ordinance to stipulate setbacks lot, off-street parking, or maximum size. because that is already covered in the code. Xochit! Ross - 1106 Atlantic. St Xochitl Ross spoke about lots that are currently non-conforming. Ifan non-conforming lot does not change the footprint could you put in a second kitchen?lti is very nice to have Building Official Robert Bitgood spoke about the Town Planner stating you cannot make a Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about amending the ordinance to include the development order and a yearly renewal process. Asked the Building Official what he multigenerationa but maybe add a yearly renewal process. non-conforming lot more non-conforming. thought oft the yearly renewal inspection. 4IPage Building Official Robert Bitgood spoke about getting legal counsel's opinion because as the Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about the County's process requires a homestead and Building Official, he cannot inspect someone's home for no reason. yearly renewal. Frank LaGrassa 412 First Ave Frank LaGrassa asked ifs someone who has a homestead exemption lives in their home for six months and a day and is gone for the rest of the year but runs an Airbnb in their home. Would they be able to do that? Jeff Fischer- 509 Harland. Ave Jeff Fischer. spoke about how maybe the issue is not being addressed properly. There are a lot ofe emotions but no data. Get dataj first and find out if there truly is a problem. Jim. Simmons 409 Avenue B Jim Simmons spoke about how a development order can be more enforceable. Without a development order, if the Building Official goes into. someone's home because of what the previous owners did there is going to be a lawsuit.. A development order is signed and approved by the Commission, becomes part of the property records, andj filed with the County, 50 anyone who buys the property they are given that information as part ofo a title search. If the new Town. Attorney approves it that would be the most enforceable. Haley Conrad- 2011 Oak St Haley Conrad asked before the ordinance changed how many people applied for a second kitchen. Why couldn'tas second kitchen application be a hardship application to the Board Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about there being no applications, but there were Code issues to where Planning and Zoning asked for clarification on the code. A hardship application to the Board of Adjustment is hard to get, very expensive, and al long process. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about being on the right track and continuing to plug the ofAdjustment? holes. Kate Wilborn - 502 Second Kate Wilborn spoke about the first thing someone does if they have aging family members or special needs children is unplug the oven. There might be an issue with the fire code. Xochitl Ross - 1106 Atlantic. St Xochitl Ross spoke about part of the County's application process is that no part of the property can be rented out. There is no data and no way to collect the data. 5Page C Consideration of hiring al Deputy Town Clerk Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about a deputy town clerk position being proposed by a previous Town Manager and the position was part-time building and part-time deputy clerk. A deputy clerk would not be a cost savings. It would triple the cost oft that department. When the software is up and running it will be more efficient and cheaper than a deputy clerk. It would also have a side effect ofi increasing taxes. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about needing a deputy clerk even ifi it is only part-time. When the Clerk goes away for training no one fills in. There is a major backlog of records and has been for years. The Town Clerk needs help, she is overloaded. Even Melbourne Village has a deputy clerk. You don't catch up when you are behind by being understaffed. Itcould be a couple of years before we get caught up and then maybe we won't need the Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about already purchasing software to help process public records requests, and not having a public records issue until the Mayor moved to town, not being ini favor of spendingtaxpayers' dollars forase self-serving personal assistant Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about it being the duty of the Town to provide records and transparency. The Clerk is the keeper oft the records and iti is the people's right to be able to ask for records. There is a backlog regardless of whoi it is from it has always been and will always be the Town's duty to have access to public records. It is not a waste of money to have someone part-time for a while even ifi iti is a contract position at least until things get caught up. Asked the Town Clerk if she thought one would be helpful and if there were easy things that could be delegated to a deputy clerk. We have a great Town Clerk, but if she gets too overburdened she might decide to go work somewhere else. Town Clerk Amber Brown spoke about there are things that she could delegate out. Commissioner Marivi Walker asked the Town Clerk how far behind she is on public records requests. Not in favor of hiring a deputy clerkj just to catch up on Ms. Dennington's public records requests she would rather hire more police. Under normal circumstances, she Town Clerk Amber Brown spoke about there being a few public records requests from the public that are outstanding in addition to the list. Public records requests in general could be manageable, but that is not the only aspect of the Town Clerk's position. A lot of other things are behind because the Clerk has to manage her time accordingly. Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about needing more information to see real costs and find the best way to solve the issue. Fixing the problem should be the priority regardless of Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about how hiring another employee is a big deal, but Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about how a deputy clerk is not going to fix the problem. deputy clerk anymore. that is not needed. thinks the Clerk can handle thej job by herself. where or who the problem is coming from. getting caught upi is important. 6IPage Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about how there are grants for scanning, and the State has an archive that will store the originals and provide a digital copy. Tina Coppock- - 505 Avenue B Tina Coppock. spoke about as a government employee you will never be caught up, doesn't like the idea of increasing the budget, and likes the idea of having someone temporarily to get caught up, a contracted, person that is not an employee of the Town, so you don't have to pay benefits. If the backlog was caught up would that satisfy the Mayor's lawsuit to save money in legal fees? Kate Wilborn - 502. Second. Ave Kate Wilborn. spoke about senior projects or college students who could do the scanning. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about how the records are too fragile and sensitive to have high school kids scanning them, but maybe there is a list of things the Clerk could hand off to someone else. Jeff Fischer- - 509 Harland Ave Jeff Fischer spoke about how he believes in government transparency, and being disturbed with not having a schedule for a contract, do an independent manpower. study tos see ift the Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about now that people have stated we do not need the Clerk needs help. help now the Clerk may not feel comfortable asking for help. Steve Walters-4 416. Sixth. Ave Steve Walters spoke about up until 4 years ago there was a town clerk and a deputy town clerk. Ini the last four years, we have had three town clerks. Ifyou read the previous two town clerks grievances you will see the Manager is the problem. The town. staff for the first time was off for an entire week from Christmas to New Year's. The Town Clerk has been with the Town long enough to get three weeks of paid vacation per year, sO who is going to cover when she is on vacation? Also, forp public records requests you are charged for Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about Nancy" Wilson and Pat Burke leaving because of anything over the first 15 minutes. Mr. Walters. Paula Panton - 809 Riverside Dr Paula Panton asked how much the scanning software costs, when was it implemented, and what does it do to help the Town Clerk. Someone said a deputy clerk wouldn't be doing the scanning and neither would the Town Clerk, sO it seems the software wouldn'taffect her job. The. software is to help residents view documents, so. she does not understand how the software will help the Town Clerk do herj job. Has anyone asked the Town Clerk if she needs 7IPage help? There is nothing worse than being short-staffed. so you can'tservice your customers. The residents are the customers of the Town. Do as study to see ift the Town Clerk needs help, and if so get someone to help part-time, full-time, or contracted employee. We are saving money by getting a new police chief, and a new town attorney, and we haven't had a deputy clerk in af few years. When the Town Clerk is gone does anyone answer her Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about how the software will help when people public Town Clerk Amber Brown spoke about the contract was approved in May of 2023, from there the Town Clerk met with the company weekly to build the software, after the software was finished they picked up: scanning project 1 in October or November, first they had to put together a sample of the records to scan for approval, after that they will start scanning the records. They are currently putting together the sample for approval. Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about being responsible for town personnel and no one has asked her what the town needs. The deputy town clerk had always been an employee who supported and was paid through all oft the departments. There is very little that cannot be signed by otheri individuals, and the Clerk is entitled to vacations which can be an inconvenience but the town is small. The town needed someone to support all of the departments not just the legislative department, sO the town has a full-time employee at the front desk who acts as a utility employee by helping out with all of the departments. The town does not have another office or computer for another employee. If someone Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about having the Clerk come up with al list of things that Commissioner Marivi Walker spoke about the request for a deputy clerk came from the Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about the Town Clerk has stated a deputy clerk would be Commissioner Marivi Walker spoke about if the Town Clerk needs help then she needs to go to the Town Manager, and they need to figure it out and bring it to the Commission. phone? Can those calls be forwarded to the utility employee? records request records that they now already have access to online. calls when the Clerk is gone they can leave a message or call back. someone else could do that would require little training. Mayor not from the Town Clerk or the Town manager. helpful. Haley Conrad - 2011 Oak Haley Conrad asked what Cyd's title is and if Cyd is available while the Town Clerk is out of Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about Cyd'st title as Administrative Assistant. D. Consideration to repeal Exemption for Owner-Occupied Vacation Rentals the office then have phone calls and emails forwarded to Cyd. 8Page Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about how there should not be an exemption for owner- occupied vacation rentals. They should have to go through the same process. Maybe the fees are less, but still make them subject to the same process. Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about in short he agrees. Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about finding a Flagler County ordinance that went through the courts and modeled it after that. The registration process is from the standpoint of safety and ift the owner lives there those same safety concerns are not there. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about the safety issues should apply if you are renting the whole house or just part ofi it. Thinks the town can say if you rent out any part of your Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about how there should be an application process and a reduced fee, but not the inspection. The important part is to be able to track them. Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about agreeing with the registration and fees. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about having the owner certify what parts of the house Commissioner Marivi Walker asked if the Building Official would be able to legally inspect Building Official Robert Bitgood spoke about not being an attorney, but that he would not do that inspection because that is a slippery slope with goingi into someone's private residence. The way the statutes are right now it would end in a lawsuit. of property rights. The town should not be able to track them. You can'tviolate someone's private property rights. home then you have to go through the registration process. they plan to rent because that is what would be inspected. this. The inspection is a no-go. Vice Mayor Sherri Quarrie spoke about it being a lawsuit waiting to happen and a violation Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about it being against the code to live in your pool house. Tina Coppock-5 505 Avenue B Tina Coppock asked why create a mountain out of a molehill if there have not been any issues for owner-occupied rentals. Why make an owner-occupied. rental do more than longer-term rentals? The real problem is the absentee owner. Mark McBride. - 310 Second. Ave Mark McBride spoke about complaining about his next-door neighbor who is an owner- occupied short-term rental. This is thej fifth time he has come to the Commission. You should not cut them a break. It is a business. Make it as difficult as possible. He does not want Melbourne Beach to become a vacation rental destination. 9Page Frank LaGrassa 412 First Ave Frank LaGrassa spoke about how he was in real estate for 3 years and people do stay in pool houses, long term rentals can be just as bad, but he would choose them over short- term rentals any day. Cynthia LaGrassa 412 First Ave Cynthia LaGrassa asked why owner-occupied rentals are exemptj from the entire ordinance. The homestead exemption will not fix the problem; they should not be exempt. Commissioner Marivi Walker spoke about the registration and fees are fine, but the problem is enforcement. Commissioner Sherri Quarrie left at 9:15 pm. E.D Discussion on short-term rentals and state pre-emption Paula Panton 809 Riverside Dr Paula Panton asked about the State. Statute. There should be a registration process and the fee should not be reduced. Renting part of the home is a business can you do that and have ah homestead exemption? Make it as difficult as possible. We don't have the infrastructure. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about the pre-emption said that if you did not have any regulations tol limit or prevent short-term rentals then you could not create one. There isa proposed bill right now that will chip away at home rule related to short-term rentals again. She spoke about starting the process of creating a network of al bunch of other towns to work on a citizen initiative constitutional amendment. She has spoken with other Mayors and they agree. Other states have gotten rid of single-family: zoning and it will be Do whatever we can to prevent more people. coming to Florida. Mark McBride -. 310: Second Ave Mark McBride spoke about looking at what has worked in other places such as Cocoa Beach and Redington Beach. He asked if the Melbourne Beach vacation rental ordinance is enforceable because it says all vehicles must remain on the property and a maximum occupancy of 12 people. If the police can enforce it that would be helpful. He providedand revlewed a document with 7 ways to tighten the Town's ordinance. Anne McBride - 310. Second. Ave Anne McBride spoke about emailing the information to the Commission months ago and she never received a response. They have been having the same problems. 10Page Roger Newell - 506 Colony Roger Newell spoke about when he had issues with his neighbors he was told all of the things that couldn't be done. Things were not being enforced. Trash cans were out for months, and vehicles blocking the road. DBPR told him to stop contacting them. Iti is very easy to take care of we just need to enforce it. There were visible safety issues and no one has done anything about them, but now it has become a long-term rental. Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about how thei town did do a lot. The fire department inspected the property and did not see any safety concerns, and thei town was able to get Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about creating a hotline to be able to report violations for Airbnb's and create al handout of everything that is enforceable for vacation rentals sO we the property turned into al long-term rental which he sees as a win. can start writing citations. Maybe do some training with the police. Jennifer Ottomanelli-: 510 Avenue. A Jennifer Ottomanelli asked ift the police department. still has a non-emergency line. Ift they do why not use that instead of creating something new that already exists? Gabor Kishegyi - 221 Surf Rd Gabor Kishegyi. spoke about short-term and long-term rentals should have an inspection. Jeff Fischer- 509 Harland. Ave Jeff Fischer spoke about an Airbnb is a business so there should be a way to inspect it. There should be a way to craft language to require everything to be brought up to the current code as part of the registration, process because we are an older town and it might Building Official Robert Bitgood spoke about proposed legislature changes to limit the amount on fees, sO then it would cost the Town money to do the inspections. Wait to see be very difficult to get some homes up to the current code all around. what passes this legislative session. Anne McBride - 310 Second Ave Anne McBride spoke about why wait until the legislation changes when something should have been done years ago. Isn't that what happened with the preemptionSomething needs to be done now. F. Discussion on stop signs Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about wanting to discuss what the process is to put in stop signs. 11Page Commissioner Corey Runte spoke about wanting to wait until the traffic studies come in to make any decisions. Commissioner Corey Runte left at 9:50 pm. Kate Wilborn 5 502. Second Ave favor ofremoving the stop signs. Kate Wilborn spoke against the stop signs on Riverside Dr. Asked the Commission who is in Commissioner Marivi Walker spoke about at the moment she is not ini favor of removing them. Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about being ini favor of removing them. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about being in favor of removing them. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about Chapter 30 oft the Town Code about the town appointing someone to function as the traffic engineer. The town code allows the town to install stop signs without a licensed engineer, but it should be brought to the Town Commission for approval. Who, how, and when was someone appointed as the traffic engineer? When we have a town attorney we need to verify they were installed in the Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about how the Chief of Police has historically been that person, sO as the Chief of Police Melanie Griswold would be the Town's traffic engineer. The Town does not have to get permission from the Commission toi install stop signs. That is up to the discretion of the Police Chief, Town Manager, Public Works Director, and Building Official. They were installed as a safety measure, not a speed measure. It was to prevent vehicles from passing on thel left or right. Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about when we get an attorney have them see if we did follow the code and then have them put together a document about what the town needs Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about the intent of the code was to have right way, and ift they weren'tv would they need to be removed? to do toi install stop signs. someone responsible for traffic control. majority vote by the Commission. Commissioner Adam Meyer spoke about how to remove the stop signs it would just take a Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about how the traffic engineer could remove them. Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro spoke about there being residents who like the stop signs; theyj just do not show up tot the meetings. 12IPage Jeff Fischer- - 509 Harland Jeff Fischer spoke about not having aj feeling either way, but if the Town didn'tfollow the process take them out. The Police Chiefi is not an engineer. Have an engineer do a study and then decide if they need to be installed. He would like to hearfrom the Police Chief to hear what the process was. Dawn Barlow-1 1710 Pine St for those, follow the process. Dawn Barlow spoke about other stop signs that have been installed. What was the process Jennifer Ottomanelli- : 510. Avenue. A Jennifer Ottomanelli spoke about congestion that builds up there at the end of Avenue A. It is annoying and takes away the beauty of the river. The MUTCD says when to use stop signs and when not to. They are not supposed to be used for traffic calming. Use them when there is a high volume of traffic, high accidents, or if there is no visibility. There is nothing that supports the needj for the stop. signs. Tina Coppock : 505 Avenue B Tina Coppock spoke about walking a dog along Riverside Dr and noticed traffic has slowed down. She does not care either way but do not take them out just to put them back in. Steve Walters 416. Sixth Ave Steve Walters spoke about other stop: signs that were installed were voted on by the Commission. Read the MUTCD and the Hometown News where the Police Chief said she Commissioner Marivi Walker spoke about how there is a problem with speeding, reckless driving, and passing on a double yellow throughout the whole Town. Maybe the stop signs are not the fixi maybe ticketing left and right is, but there is a problem and something needs to be done about it. We do not have enough police to be everywhere in Town. got with the Town Manager to install the stop signs. Paula Panton - 809 Riverside Dr Paula Panton spoke about how she has never had anyone pass on Riverside Dr and people are not speeding. Fifteen percent of people do notj follow traffic laws and will neverfollow them. Parents allow kids to ride electric bikes without helmets and don'tstop at the stop signs. Todd. Albert- -1710 Pine St Todd Albert spoke about the stop signs are inappropriate, and the speed bumps need to be removed. 13IPage Frank LaGrassa 412 First Ave ended up with a knee-jerk reaction. Julian Leek- 905 Riverside Dr Frank LaGrassa spoke about the Commission wanting to be responsive to complaints but Julian Leek spoke about vehicles overtaking on Riverside Dr, and traffic has slowed down since the stop: signs were installed. Ifyou want to remove them then go ahead, but it would Mayor Alison Dennington spoke about after hiring a town attorney bringing this back to the Commission for a vote, and figuring out what the process should be moving forward to not slow people down. install a stop sign. 6. Adjournment Motion carried 3-0. Commissioner Marivi Walker made a motion to adjourn; Commissioner Adam Meyer seconded; Meeting adjourned at 10:32 p.m. ATTEST: Alison Amber Brown, Town Clerk h R B VE ED 1883 14/Page